Acc. to this article (see paragraph 20) Andre Negrao is going to be in GP2 next year. Seeing as Carlin will give him a test at Yas Marina, it could be well be a Carlin seat. So, who is he outbidding, Nasr or Palmer? Or is the former heading to F1?
These are just a few of the questions that will be answered over the next few months. Stay tuned, folks.

Fair enough, he’s coming along like a fine wine and improving with age. Maybe his brother was more impressive? I would’ve thought Palmer’s time is up if Nasr stays in GP2 – Jolyon has done well this year, especially with overtaking.

I’m thinking Bird, Calado, Coletti, Leimer are graduating this year, possibly Ericsson too. This opens up a lot of good seats, perhaps to promote to from within, e.g. Russian Time. I think Frijns is gunning for this potential number 1 seat?

Graduating where? Formula Renault is more of a sideways movement than an upwards one, and for drivers like Bird, who have already raced there, a return isn’t much of an option. So they can only really graduate to Formula 1, unless they want to leave open-wheeled racing and go to the WEC. If it’s Formula 1 they are looking to graduate to, where are the seats going to come from?

Who would say that drivers like Calado and Nasr are going to race their third season in GP2, it means that 2014 would be their last season to win the championship. If it takes longer, would be like the case of Valsecchi or Razia that took too much time to battle for the championship (4 years). Even though, it’s possible that this year, Leimer or Bird don’t get a seat in F1; that would be a shame because I think there are no more drivers who can do better in F1 than them, they are well-prepared to be in F1.
PD: If Palmer stays in GP2 for 2014, would be his fourth season!! too much time to be there…

I think Valsecchi and Razia were simply in GP2 too early – they could have done with something like GP3, but it didn’t exist when they were there (09/10). So they simply got up to speed gradually in GP2.

Bird really would be perfect for the FP1s first 30 minutes. He is the reserve driver, while Hartley and Davidson work on the sim correlation. Hartley was instrumental in the Red Bull sim when he was sacked – they then dominated 2011 with the EBD. He’s now looking at Porsche in the WEC – at least somewhere else to ‘graduate to’ is opening up. There’ll be another seat there when Webber finally retires (could be a few years, a lot of older drivers continue in WEC/Le Mans?). But I already know that Brawn won’t run Bird for 30 minutes in FP1, with all the hassle that that would entail (seat changing, chance of crash etc.), and just wait for Ham/Ros to do all the testing and then usual FP1 stuff. Same with McLaren – Magnussen could easily do FP1s for them if he can’t get a place elsewhere (there’s a lot of experienced drivers trying as well). Calado will do Force India FP1s, and I’m sure that if F1 teams lower down the grid were okay financially that Leimer (Sauber) and Coletti (Toro Rosso) would do so as well. I’m sure one of them will pop up in sports cars next year. Palmer is reaching his peak now and should look to step up after a strong finish to his 3rd year in GP2. But if there’s nowhere to go who knows!

FP1s make total sense – there are easily enough drivers around, young drivers and a chance for small teams to earn cash – and it’s not like a test with all the extra costs incurred. They could easily have an extra 1 hour young driver session as well (schedule permitting). Valsecchi could have done FP1s this year for Lotus, Frijns for Sauber, Kovalainen for Caterham, Gonzalez for Marussia, if not Razia, Wolff for Williams :P Kobayashi for Ferrari! Paffett/Turvey for McLaren; The list goes on…

Only Jolyon Palmer could get away with “he’s had a strong third season, so he should move up to Formula 1” when most other drivers need to prove themselves after two years. He’s the new Paul di Resta – over-promising, under-delivering and believing his own hype.

I’d love to see Nasr in F1, he’s been in GP2 for almost two seasons now and he looks promising. He’s pretty consistent and I enjoy watching him race. The only thing holding him back to my mind is that he hasn’t won a race this year. Hopefully that’ll come soon.

It’s pathetic how so many of the GP2 threads on this site end up with people insulting Jolyon Palmer. I have to wonder how many of the people who make such comments actually watch GP2 and not just look at the results. Ridiculous.

Seems that Adrian Campos bought Barwa Addax Team to Alejandro Agag, and are going to race in GP2 2014. It is a high probability that Facu Regalia is going to drive for Campos Racing because Adrian Campos is his manager.

Given how well Regalia has done this year in GP3 (surprise of the year for me), this comes at just the right time for him to step up to GP2 next season. Agag has clearly been concentrating on Formula E, as Barwa has now dropped to the midfield from being at the front of GP2. Campos is wise to get back to his GP2 team after the demise of HRT in F1. So, it works well for all parties. He now has a ladder for Spanish F3 to GP2, as well – Regalia has now done this via GP3. I wonder who is in his minds eye for the second seat.

Rosenzweig has only shown the odd glimpse of pace, while it seems Haryanto could be going through the ‘wobbles’ – that transition from teenager to adult and the co-ordination changes that ensue for a short while. Although, this would usually accompany the last major growth spurt, and this varies for everyone, from younger to older say 14-21 range. His record is impressive at such a young age still, but he has lost some momentum this year, compared to last.

Strangely enough, Agag bought Addax from Campos when he first started. But the team has nose-dived this year, going from front-runners to tail-enders in record time. Rosenzweig isn’t anything special, but Haryanto had potential. I guess Agag has been preoccupied with getting Formula E up and running.

Oh – I didn’t know that. I thought he must be okay for money, with Campos as his manager, and many years of racing behind him in Formula BMW/Spanish F3 (admittedly GP3 is expensive anyhow – FR is the cheaper route). It would be good for him to clinch to GP3 title, although I hope Kvyat takes it – he was so fast at Monza, it was amazing. But, Kvyat doesn’t need the GP3 title, as he is on the RB driver program, and him and Sainz Jr are pretty much set for F1 in a few years if they do not disappoint in FR3.5 in 2014/15. Kvyat is behind Sainz Jr in the queue, so he even has 2 years to impress in FR 3.5 (like Felix da Costa/Ricciardo pretty much had) Sainz Jr has been rushed up a bit, and it shows as he is behind Kvyat in consistency right now. If RB had another driver (like Frijns, Nasr etc.) they could have let them wait longer, but they will probably give Vergne a last chance before promoting Sainz Jr for 2015, to please Cepsa. Kvyat may beat him in FR3.5 next year, but Sainz has more F1 car running from being prioritised earlier. Kvyat could be the next superstar in Toro Rosso in 2016, after Felix da Costa and Sainz Jr have had some time. But it also remains to be seen if Kvyat has to go through the ‘wobbles’ – something Felix da Costa seems to have been through and passed.